Thomas E. Franklin

Thomas E. Franklin's most famous photo

Thomas E. Franklin (born 1966) is an American photographer for The Bergen Record, best known for his photograph Raising the Flag at Ground Zero, which depicts firefighters raising the American flag at the World Trade Center after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Franklin is a 1988 graduate of the State University of New York at Purchase. The flag-rasing photo was made shortly after 5 p.m on September 11, 2001. He was standing under a pedestrian walkway across the West Side Highway, which connected the World Trade Center to the World Financial Center at the northwest corner. Franklin said the firefighters were about 150 feet away from him and about 20 feet (6 m) off the ground, while the debris was about 90 feet beyond that.

Biography

Thomas E. Franklin has been with The Record since 1993, and has been a professional photojournalist and documentary photographer for over 20 years. He has won numerous awards for his photography, and his work has been widely published and exhibited.

Franklin rose to national acclaim for his coverage of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York. His now iconic image of three firemen raising a flag above the rubble of the World Trade Center, taken hours after the attacks, is one of the most identifiable and powerful images in history. Life Magazine listed it as one of the "100 Photographs That Changed the World," and the photo is part of the permanent collection of the Library of Congress.

In 2002, the United States Postal Service introduced the "Heroes" stamp, featuring the flag-raising photo. Proceeds from the stamp have raised over $10 million dollars to help families and rescue workers of 9/11. Also in 2002, an autographed original print signed by Franklin and the three firemen pictured in the photo, sold for $89,625 at Christie's Auction House, with proceeds benefiting two 9/11 charities. The photo has also been instrumental in raising money for other charitable causes, including Juvenile Diabetes, autism, cerebral palsy.

A Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2002 for his photographs from 9/11, Franklin has received dozens of national awards from; MSNBC, Society for Professional Journalists, Editor & Publisher, the Deadline Club, National Headliners, among others.

Presently, he produces a weekly photo-column called Picture This, featuring colorful aspects of life in North Jersey. In 2007, Picture This, received an Award of Excellence from iPOY (International Pictures of the Year) and a First Place award in Feature Photography from SPJ-NJ.

In 2005, his documentary film, Ford's Toxic Legacy, was the winner of the NJ Film Festival's Best Jersey Film award, and the NJPPA's New Jersey Understanding award. Based on The Record's award winning Toxic Legacy series, which exposed toxic dumping by the Ford Motor Company and its impact on the Ramapough Indians and the environment, Franklin was part of a team of reporters who received the 2005 IRE Medal -the top national investigative award, 2006 Grantham Prize for Environmental Journalism, and the 2005 Sigma Delta Chi Award, for Toxic Legacy. www.toxiclegacy.com

Franklin has appeared on radio and television many times to discuss his photography. He has been a guest on many national programs, including; The Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN, and Oprah. He has been a guest lecturer at major colleges and universities around the country and remains a highly sought-after public speaker in his local community, where he frequently speaks to civics groups, schools, corporations, and local organizations as a motivational speaker, sharing his unique experiences of 9/11 and his career.

Franklin is also an adjunct professor of photojournalism at Ramapo College, and lives in Ramsey, New Jersey.

External links

• The sequence of twenty-three photos surrounding the famous photo, released by The Record on the five-year anniversary of 9/11.
• Official Web site - Contains information about reprint availability and charity fund
• Associated Press profile published in 2002
• Newseum's Profile